Slide-fastener strip



vNov- 1967 A. FRCSHLICH I 3,353,233.

v SLIDE-FASTENER STRIP Filed July 19, 1965 FIG. I

IN VENTOR.

ALFUIYS m'uucu m a k a m m m in 6 K A 2 6 FIG. 4

Attorney United States Patent SLIDE-FASTENER STRIP Alfons Friihlich,Essen, Germany, assignor to Opti-Holding A.G., Glarus, Switzerland, acorporation of Switzerland Filed July 19, 1965, Ser. No. 473,002 Claimspriority, application Germany, Sept. 30, 1964,

0 10,403 11 Claims. (Cl. 24205.11

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE is also provided with a pair of ridgesaligned with the I coupling elements to form additional guides for theslider.

Our present invention relates to slide fasteners and, more particularly,to slide-fastener strips having end-stop members adapted to blockdisplacement of a slider there- 'beyond in a fastener-opening and/ orfastenenclosinlg direction. The invention also relates to finished slidefasteners, i.e. slide-fastener strips provided with the slider, as wellas to an improved method for making such slide fasteners.

Conventional slide fasteners generally comprise a pair ofinterconnectable slide-fastener halves each provided with a respectivesupport band or tape and a fastener or coupling element extendinglongitudinally along one edge of the tape, the fastener elements beingmutually disengageable and connectable by the movement of a slider alongthese elements in the fastener-opening and fastener-closing direction,respectively. The fastener elements, which may be continuously :formedfrom a thermoplastic material (eg a linear polyamide such as nylon) canbe of the helical or meandering types; the invention, however, alsopertains to slide-fastener halves using a chain of discrete couplingmembers which form a longitudinal array constituting the couplingelement. Coupling elements of the latter type are generally composed ofmetal. The support band or tape may consist ,of a :fabric or asynthetic-resin thermoplastic foil although, for the present purposes,the fabric may also consist of thermally softenable synthetic-resinfibers. In conventional slide fasteners of these general types and thoseusing metallic :fastene r elements, or nonthermally softenable tapes,end-stop members are generally provided at the so-called upper and lowerextremities of the strip. The end-stop members are designed to preventwithdrawal of the slider from the fastening elements and thus engage theslider during the fastener-closing and fasteneropening movementsthereof, respectively. In the slide fasteners of prior-artconstructions, these end-stop members have frequently prevented theconvenient mounting of .the slider upon the fastener strip, especiallywhen the slider is to be mounted more or less automatically. Thesemembers, moreover, prevent both the forward and backward displacement ofthe slider beyond the stops. Thus, the slider must be mounted upon thestrip prior to the application of the end-stop members thereto. Such anarrangement is inconvenient especially when the slidefastener strip isto be formed from a continuous band of interconnected slide-fastenerhalves, the individual strips ibeing severed from this band .and theupper and lower end-stop members being applied in spaced-'apart'relaicetionship. A method of this type is described in the commonly assignedcopending applications Ser. Nos. 472,593 and 473,003, filed concurrentlyherewith and entitled,

Method .of and Apparatus for Finishing Slide Fasteners, and Method ofand Apparatus for the Production of Individual Slide Fasteners,respectively. The difficulties encountered when the end-stop members areapplied to the slide-fastener strips prior to mounting the sliderthereon, are increased manifold when the mounting is to be carried outautomatically by, for example, devices of the type illustrated anddescribed in these copending applications.

It is the principal object of the present invention, therefore, toprovide an improved slide-fastener strip, which can be completed toconstitute a slide fastener ready for use by mounting a slider thereon,permitting the slider to be drawn onto the fastening elements after theendstop member or members are emplaced.

A further object of this invention is to provide slidefastener strips ofthe character described having improyed end-stop members at least at oneend thereof.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved methodof producing these novel slide-fastener strips.

' A further object of this inventionis to produce a complete slidefastener from which the slider cannot be unintentionally withdrawn pastthe end-stop members.

These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter areattained in accordance with the present invention, by providing aslide-fastener strip having upper and lower end-stop members, preferablyof a thermoplastic material and thermally bonded to the slide-fasitenerhalves, wherein at least one end-stop member (occasionally referred tohereinafter as the upper member) is disposed at an extremity of thestrip for blocking displacement of the slider in the fastener-closingdirection, this member being formed with at least one and preferably twoelastically deformable formations resiliently deflectable by the sliderto permit the latter to be ,drawn onto the fastening elements past theend-stop -h1ember, but en gagea-ble with the slider to prevent thewithdrawal from the elements.

Advantageously, the formation is integral (i.e. one ,piece) with theupper end-stop member, either the member or the formation being highlyflexible; thus, according to a specific :feature of this invention, theelastically deformable formation can be rendered more flexible than theremainder of the member by, for example, the heating ,step at which theformation is molded. The formation thus constitutes a pawl-like memberwhich prevents removal of the slider over the end-stop member althoughit permits the slider to be drawn thereover without residual deformationof the pawl. It is, moreover, contemplated in accordance with thepresent invention to con- 'struct the slider in suchmanner that theportion thereof en ga-gea-ble with the elastically deformable formationmay, at least in part, also be elastically deformable.

While the present invention can be embodied in various ways, it has beenfound that best results are obtained when the formations are of eitherof the two configurations discussed below. Thus, inone preferredconstruction of the elastically deformable formations, they are oftoothed profile, in side view, so that they have a first flank of onlyslight inclination in the fastener-opening direction and a steep secondflank confronting the slider upon the mounting thereof upon theemplacement of the slider. The sliders in use with conventional slidefasteners are those intended for use with the present invention andgenerally have, at their upper open ends, open sides forming with thelongitudinally extending fastener elements and/or the plane of theirsupport tapes, an acute angle in the fasteneropening direction. I havefound it to be'highly advanpath of the slider traversing the latter.

tageous, especially when the elastically deformable formaat acorresponding angle to the fastener elements so that, uponslider-engagement blocking operation of the formation, the inclinedsides of the slider abut in substantially parallel relationship thecorrespondingly inclined formation surfaces.

In the alternative construction of the formations, the end-stop memberis provided with a pair of longitudinal guide grooves by means of whichthe slider is led onto the fastening elements; the elasticallydeformable formations in this case extend into the grooves and into theAdvantageously, the upper and lower end-stop members are composed of thesame material and are applied with pressure and heat to theslide-fastener strip to form a thermal bond between the strip and themembers. Prefer ably, the end-stop members are mounted upon a continuousslide-fastener band fromwhich the individual strips are severed. In thiscase, theupper end-stop member of one strip, provided with elasticallydeformable formations as described above, and a further end-stop memberof a next-adjacent and longitudinally contiguous strip to be formed uponsevering of the strips between these members, are applied simultaneouslyand an incision made between the end-stop members. Thus both end-stopmembers can be formed integrally from a single foil as described andclaimed in the above-identified applications, the elastically deformableformations being produced concurrently with the application of the foilto the slide-fastener strips. It is especially desirable to form thesimultaneously applied end-stop members from a single foil, but withlongitudinal spacing from one another so that a slot can be providedbetween the end-stop members for accommodating the slider andfacilitating its mounting upon the slide-fastener strip. This techniqueis also fully described in the above-identified commonly assignedapplications. I

It will be apparent that the. method and article described aboveconstitute an improvement over prior slidefastener constructions andtechniques in that the mounting of the slider is permitted upon aslide-fastener strip previously provided with the end-stop members inspite of the fact that the end-stop members are designed to preventdisplacement of the slider therebeyond in a direction tending towithdraw the slider from the fastening elements. The assembly of theslider is thus greatly simplified and the slide fasteners can beproduced at reduced cost, with greater efliciency and a diminishedexpenditure of labor.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more readily apparent from the followingdescription, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of the upper end of a slide-fastenerstrip, according to the present invention, provided with an end-stopmember with elastically deformable formations and of the lower end-stopmember of an adjacent slide-fastener strip;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken generally along theline IIII of FIG. 1 and showing the elastically deformable formationsfrom the side;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a modified pawltion is of toothedconfiguration, to'orient the formations like toothed formation suitablefor use with the end-stop member of FIG. 1; V FIG. 4 is a longitudinal.cross-sectional view taken along the line IV--IV of FIG. 1; i

FIG. 5 is a view similarto that ofFIG. -1-showing the slider about to bemounted upon the sliderfastener strip past the end-stop member providedwith the deflectable formations; 1

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating another embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectionalview taken the line VIIVII of FIG. 6.

generally along In FIG. 1, I show the upper end of a slide-fastenerstrip 10 which is formed simultaneously"with'thlower end 30 of aslide-fastener strip with upper and lower end-stop members 17 and 39,respectively, as a continuous strip of interconnected slide-fastenerhalves passes a heatbonding station as described in the aforementionedcopending applications. The simultaneously applied instant members 17and 39 are thereafter severed at 40. The slidefastener strip 10comprises a pair of slide-fastener halves each having a respectivesupport band or tape 11, 12 of, for example, polyamide fabric. Thelongitudinally extending fastener elements, here shown as nylon spirals13 and 14, are interconnected with the respective tapes 11 and 12 bystitched welts 15 and 16 forming guides for the slider 50 (FIG. 5). Thethermoplastic end-stop member 17, which can also be composed ofnylon-type polyamide, is formed integrally during its heatbonding to theslidefastener strip with a pair of longitudinally extending ridges 18,19, each aligned with respective fastener element 13, 14 for guiding theslider 50 onto the latter.-

In addition, a pair of elastically deformable formations 21 and 22 areformed integrally (i.e. in one piece) with member 17 and can be inclinedat the angle a to the slider 50 in the fastener-opening direction (arrowA).

The bridge of the slider 50 passes between the ridges 18 and 19 of theend-stop member and, in the usual manner,

between the coupling elements 15, 16 of the stringer tape. A steep flank24 is provided by the formations 21 and 22 to intercept the sliderduring reverse displacement of the latter to draw it off the fasteningelements 13 and 14 beyond the end member 17. The formations 21 and 22can be thermally softened so as to be more flexible (i.e. yieldable)than the balance of the end member 17 and are dimensioned so that themounting of the slider and its displacement past these formations willnot permanently deform them.

The lower end-stop member 39, which corresponds of course to the lowerend-stop member of slide-fastener strip 10, is formed with a ramp 37aligned with the ridges 18 and 19 and thus facilitates mounting of theslider 50 while a stiffening ridge 38 extends along the bottom of theslide fastener. End-stop member 39 is composed of thermoplastic materialidentical to that of end stop 17 and may be formed from a single foiltherewith as described in the aforementioned copending applications. The

end-stop member 39 is applied to the slide-fastener strip 30 whose tapes31 and 32 are, in effect, continuous with the tapes 11 and 12 untilsevering at 40. Similarly, the fastening elements of spirals 33 and 34are secured to the respective tapes by the stitched welts 35 and 36 (seeFIG. 4). a

From FIG. 3, it can beseen that the slider 50 has upwardly open surfaces27 which are inclined to the plane of the tapes 11, 12, 3 1, 32 at anacute angle [3 corresponding to the angle defined between this plane andthe steep flank 24' of the toothed formation 22'. The slightly inclinedramp 23 of the end-stop member 17 of this figure,

corresponds, of course, to the ramp surface 23. I a, v In FIG. 5, I showthe slider 50 (in plan view) as it is drawn over the end-stop member 17in thedirection of arrow B. When the slider 50 clears the steep flanks24 or 24', these flanks will constitute an abutment preventing furtherdisplacement of the slider off the fastening elenients 13, 14, 33 and34.

In the modification of FIG. 6, the upper end-stop member 60 is shown tobe provided with a pair of ridges 62 and 63 forming guides for thesliders 5t and flanking a pair of guide grooves 70, 71 through which theslider passes. On the opposite side of these grooves, a pair oflongitudinally extending ridges 64 and 65 are provided, these latterridges having elastically deformable formations 66 and 67 projectinginto the grooves 70, 71 and thus into the path of the slider. Again,these formations can be somewhat softer and more elastic than thebalance of the end-stop member 60 or of the same elasticity of thelatter when the end-stop member is composed of a relatively softthermoplastic material (e.g. polyethylene or nylon polyami-de). Thelower end-stop member 70 can be of the construction described in FIG. 1.The stop members of FIGS. 1-7 can be applied by the techniques describedin the above-identified copending applications as the continuousslide-fastener band is displaced in the direction of arrow A, thesliders being applied automatically with a forward motion in thedirection of arrow A or a reverse motion of the continuous band.

The invention described and illustrated is believed to admit of manymodifications within the ability of persons skilled in the art, all suchmodifications being considered within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A slide-fastener strip, comprising a pair of slidefastener halveseach having a respective support band and a fastener element extendingalong an edge of the band and matingly couplable with the fastenerelement of the other band upon the shifting of a slider along saidelements in a fastener-closing direction, said elements being decoupledupon shifting of the slider in the opposite, fastener-opening direction;and an end-stop member of a thermoplastic material afiixed to said stripat one extremity thereof for blocking displacement of said slider insaid fastener-closing direction, said member being formed with at leastone longitudinally extending guide groove for leading said slider ontosaid band, and with at least one elastically deformable formationprojecting into said groove and resilient-1y deflectable by the sliderto permit it to be drawn onto said elements past said member butengageable with the slider to prevent its withdrawal from said elementspast said member.

2. A slide-fastener strip, comprising a pair of slidefastener halveseach having a respective support band and a fastener element extendingalong an edge of the band and matingly couplable with the fastenerelement of the other band upon the shifting of a slider along saidelements in a fastener-closing direction, said elements being decoupledupon shifting of the slider in the opposite, fastener-opening direction;and an end-stop member of a thermoplastic material aflixed to said stripat one extremity thereof for blocking displacement of said slider insaid fastener-closing direction, said member being formed with at leastone elastically deformable formation resiliently deflectable by theslider to permit it to be drawn onto said elements past said member butengageable with the slider to prevent its withdrawal from said elementspast said member, said member being formed with a pair of ridges eachgenerally aligned with a respective one of said elements for guiding theslider onto said strip.

3. A slide-fastener strip as defined in claim 2 wherein said formationis more flexible than the remainder of said member.

4. A slide-fastener strip as defined in claim 2 wherein said formationis a tooth projecting from said member 6 and having a first flank ofslight inclination in the fastener-opening direction and a steep secondflank confronting said slider upon the mounting thereof on saidelements.

5. A slide-fastener strip as defined in claim 4 wherein a pair of saidformations are provided on said member, each upon a respective one ofsaid slide-fastener halves.

6. A slide-fastener strip as defined in claim 4 wherein the slider hasan open side including an acute angle with said elements, said formationbeing disposed substantially at a corresponding angle for generallyparallel contact with said side at said steep flank upon engagement ofthe slider therewith.

7. A slide-fastener strip, comprising a pair of slide fastener halveseach having a respective support band and a fastener element extendingalong an edge of the band and matingly couplable with the fastenerelement of the other band upon the shifting of a slider along saidelements in a fastener-closing direction, said elements being decoupledupon shifting of the slider in the opposite, fastener-opening direction;and an end-stop member of a thermoplastic material affixed to said stripat one extremity thereof for blocking displacement of said slider insaid fastener-closing direction, said member being formed with at leastone elastically deformable formation resiliently deflectable by theslider to permit it to be drawn onto said elements past said member butengageable with the slider to prevent its withdrawal from said elementspast said member, said member being provided with a pair of transverselyspaced generally parallel guide grooves extending in saidfastener-opening direction, said formation extending into one of saidgrooves.

8. A slide-fastener strip as defined in claim 7 wherein a pair of saidformations are provided upon said member, each extending into one ofsaid grooves.

9. A slide-fastener strip as defined in claim 7 wherein saidslide-fastener halves are composed at least in part of a thermoplastic,said member being thermally bonded to said slide-fastener halves.

10. A slide-fastener strip as defined in claim 9, wherein said strip isprovided with a further end-stop member of said thermoplastic materialat a location remote from the first-mentioned member and thermallybonded to said slide-fastener halves for blocking displacement of theslider beyond said further member in the fastener-opening direction.

11. A slide-fastener strip as defined in claim 7 wherein said formationhas a slider-engaging surface including an acute angle with the plane ofsaid support bands and corresponding to the inclination of the open endof the slider, thereby permitting engagement of said slider with saidformation with surface contact.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,901,257 3/1933 Norton 24205.112,800,699 7/ 1957 Armstrong 24205.1 3,001,904 9/1961 Porepp 24205.11 X3,104,438 9/1963 Scarpini 24205.11

FOREIGN PATENTS 252,799 3/ 1962 Australia.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner.

1. A SLIDE-FASTENER STRIP, COMPRISING A PAIR OF SLIDEFASTENER HALVESEACH HAVING A RESPECTIVE SUPPORT BAND AND A FASTENER ELEMENT EXTENDINGALONG AN EDGE OF THE BAND AND MATINGLY COUPLABLE WITH THE FASTENERELEMENT OF THE OTHER BAND UPON THE SHAFTING OF A SLIDER ALONG SAIDELEMENTS IN A FASTENER-CLOSING DIRECTION, SAID ELEMENTS BEING DECOUPLEDUPON SHIFTING OF THE SLIDER IN THE OPPOSITE, FASTENER-OPENING DIRECTION;AND AN END-STOP MEMBER OF A THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL AFFIXED TO SAID STRIPAT ONE EXTREMITY THEREOF FOR BLOCKING DISPLACEMENT OF SAID SLIDER INSAID FASTENER-CLOSING DIRECTION, SAID MEMBER BEING FORMED WITH AT LEASTONE LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING GUIDE GROOVE FOR LEADING SAID SLIDER ONTOSAID BAND, AND WITH AT LEAST ONE ELASTICALLY DEFORMABLE FORMATIONPROJECTING INTO SAID GROOVE AND RESILIENTLY DEFLECTABLE BY THE SLIDER TOPERMIT IT TO BE DRAWN ONTO SAID ELEMENTS PAST SAID MEMBER BUT ENGAGEABLEWITH THE SLIDER TO PREVENT ITS WITHDRAWAL FROM SAID ELEMENTS PAST SAIDMEMBER.